Electrolytic cells containing silicon anodes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 260,790 filed June 8, 1972, by Howard H. Hoekje for "Electrodes Having Silicon Base Members", now abandoned, U.S. application Ser. No. 336,288 filed Feb. 27, 1973, by Howard H. Hoekje for "Electrodes Having Silicon Base Members", now U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,175 and U.S. application Ser. No. 356,972 filed May 3, 1973, by Howard H. Hoekje for "Electrolytic Cell for the Electrolysis of Alkali Metal Chlorides Having Bipolar Electrodes" now abandoned.
While silicon is a particularly satisfactory material from an electrochemical viewpoint, available expedients of working with silicon has tended to limit its application to cells or relatively simple geometry. For example, silicon electrodes cannot be simply inserted in electrolytic cells intended for use with metal anodes of the type known in the prior art, e.g., precious metal-coated titanium anodes.
Another problem limiting the wider use of silicon has been the difficulty in welding silicon. A related problem has been the difficulty of making removable silicon elements, e.g., silicon elements having the capability of being bolted onto other metallic elements. Both of these problems are inter-related, and are due to the shear strength and thermal expansion properties of silicon, as well as to the difficulty of obtaining a satisfactory metallurgical bond between silicon and the available solders and welding fluxes.